2000 pt deathwing list critique/ battle report

***** phone post *****
I got to play against Danny, of Internets fame, last night. We play often, and a couple times a year one of us has a new list or army we break out against the norm. Last night we both had a new army/list and @ 2000 pts I thought I had him. Not sure if he has posted his list but its grey knight acolyte rifleman dreadnought spam. 14 tanks. Thing is, I thought I had his ass.
My list
Belial130
Apothocary 30
4-5 man Deathwing termies
1 with Cyclone missile launcher20
1 with chainfist 240 x 4 =960
Ravenwing bike squadron
1 with melta 130
3 godhammer land raiders 250 x 3= 750
2000 pts of awesome tournament goodness
I have considered several changes to the list and I would like to know what you think. My proposals are 1 less godhammer, in return for another th/ss squad and a second melta on the bikers. I won't change it for the tournament but maybe after and any subsequent tourney. Who knows what will catch my fancy. What do you guys think/
Ok let the match up set in.
I had him in a long distance firefight. 6 twin linked las cannons attached to armour 14 4 Cml attached to 5 fearless th/ss termies. I had him except..........terrain choked our board last night. He closed the distance and started bringing melta to bear. That wasn't even what won him the game. If he is close enough for melta, I'm close enough for thunder hammers and I even like that match up. Two things kept me from a successful ass kicking counter charge after backing up early in the game. Danny played the grey knight character that allows henchman as troops or unlimited number or something crazy. Coteaz, I believe his name was, had a psychic power that proved be one of two winning factors for Danny. The power makes an opponent count all assault charges as if in both difficult and dangerous. This killed a few termies, but what contributed to the win was that I missed more than 2-3 key charges due to being in difficult terrain. I then got blasted because my feet were stuck in the mud. That power is powerful if playing an assault oriented army. It stuck me in the mud hole!
The thing that hands down won Danny the game was his death-cult assassin squad! Holy Crap! Are you obsesive types talking about how devastating these bitches are? One squad tore through 3 and if I didn't yield the game, my fourth th/ss squad. No bull, for 15 pts, they are a steal for their stat line. Wow. I saw a gleam in danny's eye when they were sticking it to me. I expect more of them in the future.
Black Matt bends his knee for the first time, ........ever! ;)

When I knew I was feeling the battle for salvation tournament on may 21st, I sought out different types of opponents. Orks, tyranids, and now a gun line mech list. I only have a few games with this army but at least they gave me the most experience possible. I might get 1 more game in before the tournament this Saturday. My good buddy Sgt. Brisbane and I will be taking skulls at the tournament so stop by and say hello.

10 comments:

Sorien said...

To me the land raiders are your biggest liability. There are much cheaper ways to get firepower on the table, considering that LR are not that hard to kill (especially against guard).

I've watched and helped my cousin play and optimize deathwing since the faq came out.

His list:
Belial (TH/SS)
Interrigator Chaplain, Terminator armor, combi-melta (might get swapped for librarian @ same points)
Upgraded Deathwing banner, apothecary, Cyclone, 1 LC
Deathwing: 3x TH/SS, 1 LC, 1 SB/Chainfist, cyclone
Deathwing: 4x TH/SS, 1 LC, cyclone
Tactical squad (10), melta, plasma cannon, rhino
Tactical squad (5), metla, rhino

Speeder, MM, Typhoon
Speeder, MM, Typhoon
Speeder, MM, Typhoon

Predator AC/Heavy bolters
Predator AC/Heavy bolters
Devastators, 4x ML

The MSU tactical is up in the air, the thing he will probably drop, and add a basic speeder or two into squadrons.

Black Matt said...

I've got to disagree with you on the land raiders. when you mention guard being able to kill land raiders well, I'm assuming its with melta and you'd be correct. However the limited range of melta means they have to advance against a wall of th/ss. They have to get past the teeth to strike @ the throat, so to speak. Against vendetta spam I can reserve or start off board edge to defend against an alpha strike and they are still av 14 with machine spirit and the damn vehicle damage chart to beat. What make them dangerous to gun line mech is that I can fire @ 6 different targets with fully 3 operational lraiders. I believe the strength in my list is the balance of fire power, close combat, and toughness of all my units. Everything is fearless, including my HQ.

The Epistolary said...

I'm not a fan of the Landraider either, I feel it's a huge points sink in an army thats already low on model count.

For anti-armor I like to use Ravenwing Bikers, yeah they're kinda soft but they're fast and maneuverable. 190 points gets you 3 bikers, 2 with melta guns and an attack bike with a multi-melta. The key to this setup is twofold: The attack bike deploys separately from the other bikes, and all the bikes have the scout special rule. This lets your bikes outflank your opponents army and shove some melta up their tailpipe.

Sure it's somewhat suicidal as there's a good chance they're going to get fragged in return, but if your enemy has his armor shooting at your bikes then they're not shooting at your(scoring) termies and the CML strapped to their backs.

ctreleheb said...

I think your proposed changes would be a little more solid. Puts more boots on the ground while keeping a couple armour 14 targets on the field. The second melta on bikes is nice, b/c you always miss when you need, esp if you only have one.

With three units out of the LR you can Deathwing assault with 2 of them at beginning of game. I like this as it gives some targets to keep opponent busy while the rest of your army gets into position. Also, lets the third squad come in late game for objectives or help out if part of your line is getting stretched.

Sorien said...

The biggest threat to Land Raiders from IG is manticores, with vendettas not far behind and melta vets 3rd. At least with vendettas you can shoot back, but manticores can hide completely and still take you out with statistical ease.

Brother Cornelius said...

drop one of the LRs and fill out your list with two 2x melta ravenwing squads with attack bikes.

Unknown said...

An alternative could be Sammael in tandem with Belial, giving you this:

Belial, apothecary upgrade (TH&SS)
Sammael (Jetbiked)
Deathwing Terminator Squad
5 TH&SS, Cyclone Missile Launcher.
(This because you can have both SS and missile launcher)
3 more of those
Ravenwing Attack Squadron
2 meltaguns
Attack bike with multi-melta
Another one of those
(Because let's face it, scouting melta and multi-melta is pretty damn neat to have. Let's you take care of various fire-support elements early.)
Ravenwing Support Squadron
Multi-Melta, Typhoon Missile launcher
two more of those.
Because a free multi-melta upgrade is awesome for the typhoon.

Granted, this list might be a bit heavy on the anti-tank but you have more than enough anti-infantry in thunderhammers, frag on the missiles and sammael's plasma cannon. Alternatively, set heavy bolters on the Typhoons. This limits your melta, though. And Multi-Meltas are always nice to have.

Black Matt said...

Nice ideas, unfortunately, I don't have the models for a equal part multi-wing. I only own a few bikes that aren't chaos. thinking about it, Maybe I will play around after the tourney with a string contingency of Ravenwing. Thanks for the help fellas.

@sorien what makes antidote so awesome. Are they s10?

Black Matt said...

Nice ideas, unfortunately, I don't have the models for a equal part multi-wing. I only own a few bikes that aren't chaos. thinking about it, Maybe I will play around after the tourney with a string contingency of Ravenwing. Thanks for the help fellas.

@sorien what makes antidote so awesome. Are they s10?

swanson4969 said...

Matt
I am not sure if you like them but ven dreads work great. They can advance behind the intial screen of termies. They are great for counter assault and are also a great tarpit unit. They do wonderful against most assault units. Also they can supply another mobile long range weapon or a mobile multi melta.
Greg